NOVA: What Are Dreams Series

Lectures curated around NOVA: What Are Dreams? about how leading dream researchers are using extraordinary experiments to investigate the world of sleep.

What are dreams and why do we have them? Are they a window into a hidden realm within us? Science is only just beginning to understand. NOVA joins the leading dream researchers and witnesses the extraordinary experiments they use to investigate the world of sleep. From human narcoleptics to sleepwalking cats, from recurrent nightmares to those who can’t dream, each sequence contains a vital clue to the question these scientists are pursuing: why do we dream?

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Biology of Mood: Molecules on Your Mind
William Carlezon
February 18, 2005
00:38:05
William Carlezon talks about the ADHD research he conducted with Susan Anderson, in which they tested the effects of Ritalin on rats. Between 3 and 12% of school-age children may suffer from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Rodger Kamenetz: History of Last Night's Dream
Rodger Kamenetz
November 28, 2007
00:59:27
In his new book The History of Last Night's Dream, Rodger Kamenetz searches for spiritual truth in dreams. How has the quest to interpret dreams shaped Western thought? How do dreams allow us to communicate with our unconscious selves?
Audio-only
Creative Mind: The Creative Personality
Jacob Bronowski
August 12, 1958
00:30:18
Lyman Bryson discusses with mathematician, poet, and biologist Jacob Bronowski how to locate and describe the basic qualities that mark the creative mind.
Consciousness, Creativity, and the Brain
David Lynch
October 1, 2005
01:32:13
David Lynch, the award-winning writer, director, and producer, answers questions on his films, his 32-year practice of Transcendental Meditation, and the role of consciousness in the creative process.
New Windows on the Brain: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Bruce M. Cohen
May 2, 2003
01:18:29
Dr. Cohen talks about the diagnosis and treatment of patients with psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, and psychiatric disorders of later life.
Audio-only
Promise and Peril: The Future of the Brain
Steven Rose
March 16, 2005
01:21:09
Steven Rose lectures on the potentially dangerous future of neurosciences, and the possible impact it may have on the definition of humanity.
Audio-only
Ray Kurzweil: Technology, the Brain, and the Future
Raymond Kurzweil
May 15, 2001
00:38:01
Ray Kurzweil discusses the future of technology and it's advances in relation to the human brain. Kurzweil has invented many important practices, objects, and even fields of future study that are discussed in this presentation.
This Is Your Brain on Love
Helen Fisher
February 4, 2009
01:18:19
Helen Fisher, one of the world's leading experts on romantic love, identifies four broad personality types, each governed by different chemical systems in the brain. Love is no longer blind, thanks to pioneering scientific research, based on her unique study of 40,000 men and women.